There are eight contenders left in the draw vying for glory with the 2025 English Open at the quarter-finals stage in Brentwood.
A giant-killing couple of days in the season’s fourth ranking event means that there are just two players from the world’s top 16 still in the hunt.
Five among the last eight are bidding to get their hands on a ranking trophy for the first time in their careers.
The other three are proven winners, with a pair of former world champions and an ex-world number one bidding to reach the semi-finals.
Let’s take a look at the four quarter-finals at the 2025 English Open on Friday.
Jackson Page vs Mark Selby
Jackson Page took advantage of a below-par performance from Shaun Murphy to beat the Magician 4-3 in the last 16.
The young Welshman next meets Mark Selby, who represents the new favourite in the outright betting market following the demise of the likes of Judd Trump and Zhao Xintong.
Selby has already got his hands on the Steve Davis Trophy twice, winning the Home Nations Series tournament in both 2019 and 2022.
The Englishman will be favoured to prolong his run at this edition, but Page is a player who has been knocking on the door of a breakthrough.
Their two previous ranking event meetings have been shared, with Selby winning their most recent tie at the World Grand Prix earlier this year.
When is it? Friday, not before 2pm UTC+1 (BST)
Zhou Yuelong vs Luca Brecel
It was a troubling start to the 2025/26 campaign for Luca Brecel, but he seems to have got himself back on track again this week.
The Belgian Bullet fought his way past Robbie Williams in a deciding frame to reach the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time since the Crucible.
Zhou Yuelong represents the 2023 world champion’s next obstacle to overcome, with the Chinese potter securing a 4-2 defeat of Barry Hawkins on Thursday.
It has been a hugely disappointing period for Zhou, who has regressed in recent years from a somewhat regular presence at the business end of events to hardly ever reaching the latter rounds.
In fact, this is the 27 year-old’s first quarter-final at a ranking event since the 2023 Scottish Open.
Zhou and Brecel have clashed four times in all competitions ahead of their clash at the English Open quarter-finals, with honours even and two victories apiece.
When is it? Friday, 12pm UTC+1 (BST)
Elliot Slessor vs Mark Allen
Elliot Slessor reached the semi-finals of the lucrative Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and is undoubtedly a player on the march up the rankings.
The 31 year-old produced another fine performance to knock out world number one Judd Trump in the last 16.
Up next in his bid to reach the last four of a ranking event for the sixth time is Mark Allen, who scrambled his way back from 3-0 down to pip Ding Junhui in a deciding frame.
Allen is bidding to make it back-to-back semi-final appearances after his run in Wuhan, and the Northern Irishman has won his only other match with Slessor.
When is it? Friday, 7pm UTC+1 (BST)
Jak Jones vs Aaron Hill
Speaking of someone rising up the ranks, there can’t be many better examples at the moment than Aaron Hill.
The Irishman, who added Jack Lisowski to his list of conquests in this event that also includes Stephen Maguire and Ali Carter, has had a strong 2025 and is chasing a maiden semi-final as a reward for his efforts.
Hill’s upcoming challenge will be Jak Jones, with the former World Championship runner-up surviving a 4-3 tussle against Ricky Walden.
Jones could rejoin the top 16 if he goes all the way to Sunday’s final and claim his first ranking title, but Hill will be buoyed by his recent form that also saw him produce a 147 break in the second round.
When is it? Friday, 7pm UTC+1 (BST)
2025 English Open Draw
Round of 64 (bo7)
Neil Robertson 4-1 Sunny Akani
Jackson Page 4-1 Zhao Hanyang
Shaun Murphy 4-0 Zak Surety
David Gilbert 2-4 Fan Zhengyi
Wu Yize 4-1 He Guoqiang
Chris Wakelin 4-1 Ross Muir
Lei Peifan 4-1 Ryan Day
Mark Selby 4-1 Liam Highfield
Mark Williams 4-0 Amir Sarkhosh
Zhou Yuelong 4-1 Xu Si
Barry Hawkins 4-2 Louis Heathcote
Tom Ford 4-3 Martin O’Donnell
Hossein Vafaei 3-4 Luca Brecel
Si Jiahui 4-2 Liu Hongyu
Pang Junxu 4-3 Daniel Wells
Kyren Wilson 2-4 Robbie Williams
Judd Trump 4-0 Michael Holt
Yuan Sijun 4-3 Ben Woollaston
Gary Wilson 4-2 Sanderson Lam
Elliot Slessor 4-2 Jimmy Robertson
Stuart Bingham 4-0 Dylan Emery
Mark Allen 4-1 Scott Donaldson
Matthew Selt 4-2 Liam Davies
Ding Junhui 4-1 Liam Pullen
Xiao Guodong 4-0 Gong Chenzhi
Joe O’Connor 1-4 Ricky Walden
Zhang Anda 4-1 Anthony McGill
Jak Jones 4-3 Jamie Jones
Stephen Maguire 2-4 Aaron Hill
Ali Carter 4-2 Marco Fu
Jack Lisowski 4-2 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Zhao Xintong 4-0 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Round of 32 (bo7)
Neil Robertson 1-4 Jackson Page
Shaun Murphy 4-1 Fan Zhengyi
Wu Yize 4-2 Chris Wakelin
Lei Peifan 0-4 Mark Selby
Mark Williams 1-4 Zhou Yuelong
Barry Hawkins 4-0 Tom Ford
Luca Brecel 4-2 Si Jiahui
Pang Junxu 0-4 Robbie Williams
Judd Trump 4-1 Yuan Sijun
Gary Wilson 0-4 Elliot Slessor
Stuart Bingham 3-4 Mark Allen
Matthew Selt 1-4 Ding Junhui
Xiao Guodong 3-4 Ricky Walden
Zhang Anda 1-4 Jak Jones
Aaron Hill 4-3 Ali Carter
Jack Lisowski 4-1 Zhao Xintong
Round of 16 (bo7)
Jackson Page 4-3 Shaun Murphy
Wu Yize 2-4 Mark Selby
Zhou Yuelong 4-2 Barry Hawkins
Luca Brecel 4-3 Robbie Williams
Judd Trump 3-4 Elliot Slessor
Mark Allen 4-3 Ding Junhui
Ricky Walden 3-4 Jak Jones
Aaron Hill 4-1 Jack Lisowski
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Jackson Page vs Mark Selby
Zhou Yuelong vs Luca Brecel
Elliot Slessor vs Mark Allen
Jak Jones vs Aaron Hill
Click here for the updated results (snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
